Fairy Tail Academy of Martial Arts
by juveen
Summary: In hopes of becoming strong and moving on from her haunting past, Juvia Lockser enrolls as a student at Fairy Tail Academy of Martial Arts to study and train in the art of karate. There, she meets fellow student, Gray Fullbuster, a red belt in karate. And there's an undeniable connection between them. But with the threat of her dark past returning, will Juvia be able let him in?
1. Chapter 1

Hello~! This is my first ever fanfiction that I started last year and ended up setting aside because of writer's block. However! I have picked the story back up, and I am currently writing the third chapter, which should be out sometime later this week! :) Feedback and constructive criticism is most welcome~

All character credit goes to Hiro Mashima, the creator/author of the Fairy Tail manga/anime.

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><p>Chapter 1:<p>

Drops of rain stung her unshielded body as Juvia Lockser made her way toward the Fairy Tail Academy of Martial Arts. She had left her umbrella at home, having forgot to bring it as she had rushed out the door of her apartment. It was not much farther now, and Juvia could see the impressive building standing only a block ahead as she walked down the sidewalk at a quick pace.

Fairy Tail Academy of Martial Arts was indeed a sight to behold. Having done her research, Juvia had discovered that the four-story academy sat on six acres of land, with a campus where students could train outside, and a separate building for student co-ed dorms. The architecture of the martial arts academy had clearly been designed to resemble a castle, with a tall, stonewall that stretched around the entire plot of land, and an iron gate, which stood open at its entrance.

Juvia walked through this gate and onto the property of Fairy Tail Academy, arriving shortly at a tall set of thick, wooden doors. A heavy, brass knocker provided to be the only means of alerting her arrival, and with a wet hand, she takes hold and knocks it against the door three times as hard as she can. The rain was pouring buckets by this time and a soaked Juvia wraps her arms around herself to keep warm. No longer than 10 seconds had passed before a blonde-haired female opens one of the doors.

"Oh!" The girl gasps upon seeing Juvia.

Juvia opens her mouth to introduce herself, but the blonde grabs her arm before she could get a word out.

"You're drenched! Quickly, you must come inside before you catch a cold!" And before she could say or do anything, Juvia is dragged inside.

The door shuts behind them with a soft _thunk_, and the blonde girl immediately calls out for a "Mirajane." They were in a large, open room lined with rows of wooden tables and chairs to accommodate them. A few groups of people sat at these tables, and all looked up at the arrival of Juvia and the blonde-haired girl.

The "Mirajane" that the blonde had called out for was a pretty, white-haired girl with dark blue eyes. With a towel already in her arms, Mirajane approaches them and hands it to Juvia.

"Oh dear." The Mirajane girl says, breaking into a warm smile as Juvia uses the towel to dry herself off as best as she can, which proved to be rather difficult given the wet articles of clothing that weighed heavily down on her body.

"Here, let's sit you by the fireplace." Suggests Mirajane, "You'll warm up faster, and it will help dry your clothes."

Nodding, since there was not much else she could do, Juvia is led over to a large fireplace (large enough that she could walk into), and seated in a hard, oak chair taken from one of the tables.

"There, much better, right? I'll go and fix you a cup of tea." Mirajane announces, before walking away from Juvia and the blonde-haired girl.

"What's your name, then?" Asks the blonde, who had taken another chair from the one of the tables to sit down across from her.

"J-Juvia. Juvia Lockser." She replies, wincing at her stutter, which interrupted her speech whenever she was nervous.

"Nice to meet you Juvia! I'm Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy smiles brightly at her, "What brings you to Fairy Tail?"

Juvia was aware of all the curious heads turned toward her and Lucy, blatantly listening in to their conversation. "J-Juvia wants to become a student at Fairy Tail Academy, s-so she came here to see if she could en-enroll."

Lucy's eyes widen in surprise at Juvia's words, before breaking into another, this time excited, smile, "Oh! Well, you'll need to talk to Headmaster Makarov Dreyar then. Once you're all dry, I'll take you to him."

Juvia smiles shyly, nodding her head. "Juvia would most appreciate that. Thank you… Lucy."

After Lucy and Juvia's introductions, Mirajane returned with earl grey tea for Juvia, which just so happened to be Juvia's favorite. Lucy introduced Juvia and Mirajane to one another, before telling Mirajane that Juvia wanted to become a student at Fairy Tail. Mirajane seemed to Juvia quite pleased with this news, and sent off to find the headmaster.

By the time Juvia finished her tea, she was almost completely dry, with only a few damp places here and there, and the headmaster comes down himself (instead of being taken to him) to greet her. They exchange introductions, and Juvia tells Headmaster Makarov her desire to become a student at his academy to train in martial arts. The headmaster nods as she speaks, and after a long pause of consideration when she finishes, welcomes Juvia as a new student of Fairy Tail Academy of Martial Arts.

Upon hearing her acceptance, Juvia is astonished. She thanks Headmaster Makarov at least ten times before turning to Lucy and Mirajane and thanking them as well. Makarov grunts, ears reddening at the tips, and tells Mirajane to get the paperwork and documents ready to sign. Mirajane does, returning soon with a pen and stacks of papers for Juvia, which Juvia dutifully reads through before signing all designated areas.

Once all the legal procedures for her enrollment were taken care of, Juvia thanks the headmaster another five times before leaving to go back to her apartment and pack, this time with a borrowed umbrella from Mirejane. It wasn't a requirement for the students of Fairy Tail to live in the dorms, but Juvia's lease on her apartment was up, and she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

As she quickly walks home, umbrella open and keeping the assaulting rain from pouring down on her, Juvia finds herself smiling.

This was it, the fresh start that she needed. She could finally look ahead toward her future, without having to watch over her shoulder in fear of her past.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! Here is chapter 2! I apologize for the long hiatus on this story.. But! I have picked this story back up, and the third chapter should be out in the next few days :) Thank you so much for the reviews!

All character credit goes to Hiro Mashima, the creator/author of the Fairy Tail manga/anime.

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><p>Chapter 2:<p>

"There!" Juvia exclaims with triumph, "Only two more boxes, and Juvia will be completely moved in!" A week had past since Juvia had been accepted into the Fairy Tail Academy of Martial Arts, and she had spent the entire time packing and taping up boxes of her belongings for the move into the dorms of the academy. And she only had two more boxes to haul up before she was completely moved in.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Juvia sets off to fetch them. Her best friend, Gajeel Redfox, had helped transport her things to Fairy Hills co-ed dormitory through use of his car, but had been unable to stay and help her bring them up to her dorm because of work. Juvia's dorm lay on the third floor, so it was a long way for hauling up all the boxes on her own. But Juvia was in high-spirits, so she didn't mind, and was, in fact, enjoying herself immensely.

Back outside of the dorm building, Juvia stacks the last two remaining boxes on top of one another, before picking them up. Piled up high, she couldn't see past the boxes in her arms very well, and had to take each step back into the building slowly, and with great caution. And it was just her luck that the single elevator was under repair, forcing Juvia to take the six flights of stairs to her floor instead.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, she begins the long journey up to her floor. She had made it to the second floor, and was starting on her fifth flight of stairs, when Juvia lost her footing on one of the steps. Juvia cries out in surprise, and begins to fall backward, hands full and unable to reach out and grab onto the railing to keep from tumbling down the stairs. Just as she was about to tumble to her doom, out of nowhere, a pair of arms reach out from behind her, one wrapping around her waist to keep her from falling, and the other steadying the boxes in her arms.

"Whoa there." Came a very masculine voice. Regaining her balance, the arms release themselves from her, and take the top box from the two in her grasp. With the second box out of her line of sight, Juvia could now clearly see before her, and the guy who had helped her, standing there.

He was tall, about 3-4 inches taller than she was, and gorgeous. A tousle of messy, black hair that layered down to his chin, bringing out his strikingly dark, blue eyes… Which were… Staring right at her…

"Are you alright?" The guy asks.

"U-Uh, y-yes. Yes! Juvia is fine." Juvia's face felt hot, "Thank you." She adds quickly.

"Juvia, eh? New student?" He gestures with a nod to the boxes that they both now held.

"O-Oh! Y-yes. Yes, Juvia is moving in today." She mentally slaps herself. Duh, he had already known that by the boxes, which is why he asked if she was a new student!

"Nice. Well, I'm Gray Fullbuster. What floor are you on? I'll help you take these up."

"Juvia Lockser." Juvia says so he knew her last name as well, "And, um… Third floor, but it's okay! Juvia can do it, these are her last two boxes."

"It's not a problem. I'm on the fourth floor, so it's on my way up anyway." And before Juvia could protest further, he turns and starts to walk up the stairs. Juvia hastily follows up after him, paying extra attention to her footing as they go.

They reach the third floor, and Gray asks which dorm she's in. Replying that she's in dorm number 94, they walk in silence the rest of the way down the hall until reaching her door. Juvia had left the door to her dorm unlocked and slightly ajar to make moving in and out easier as she brought up boxes, and she stops in front of her door, turning to look at Gray.

"Thank you for helping me." Juvia says, averting her eyes from his. "Juvia can manage from here."

Gray nods, then sets the box he had carried down. "Alright. Well, it was nice to meet you Juvia. Good luck with the unpacking."

Juvia nods in return, "Thanks." She stacks the two boxes on top of each other before picking them up again. Heading inside, Juvia says in a soft voice, "And thanks for helping me… Gray-sama." And shuts the door behind her on a slightly surprised-looking Gray Fullbuster.

The alarm on Juvia's phone goes off and she groans, rolling over in bed and reaching an arm over to turn it off. Sitting up in bed, Juvia stretches in an attempt to help wake up her exhausted body. Unable to fall asleep the night before after moving in all of her belongings, Juvia had stayed up until 4:00 AM unpacking and putting away all of her things. It was 6:00 AM now, and training started 7:00.

She drags herself out of bed and blearily makes her way to the bathroom, shucking off her pajamas and underwear on the way. A hot shower welcomed her surprisingly sore and tired body, and by the time she finished, Juvia felt a little more awake. Toweling off her body and hair, Juvia walks back into her room and over to her dresser.

Pulling on a pair of plain purple, cotton panties, a grey sports bra and white socks, Juvia goes to her closet to pulls off a baggy blue shirt and black yoga pants from their hangars. Juvia hadn't yet received her karategi (karate uniform), so this would just have to make do for now. Fully dressed, Juvia walks back into the bathroom to brush her teeth and dry her hair. Drying her hair was the longest part of Juvia's morning routine, as it was long and thick, for which she constantly threatened to chop it off.

Completely finished in the bathroom, she makes her way to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, and Juvia took that seriously. Scrambling some eggs, frying up some bacon and slicing a handful of strawberries, Juvia ate a full and delicious meal, complimented with a glass of chocolate milk. Patting her now comfortably full stomach, she puts her dishes in the sink to wash later as it is time for her to go to class. She checks to make sure she has everything – keys, phone, hair tie, jacket, and Chapstick – and heads out the door after slipping on her worn-out sneakers and lacing them up.

It was still dark out when Juvia exited Fairy Hills dormitory, the sun still waiting to rise from behind the mountains. The sky was also overcast with dark, billowing clouds, threatening to rain down on her any minute, which probably accounted for why it was still so dark.

The walk from her dorm across campus and to the academy would take her about fifteen minutes, and after checking her phone, Juvia burst out into a sprint. She didn't have fifteen minutes to get to class, she had five, and she would _not_ be late on her first day.

By some miracle, Juvia made it to the academy and into class on time, and even before the instructor. Bracing herself against one of the walls, trying to catch her breath, Juvia glances around the room to see unfamiliar faces, some of which were staring at her. Except they weren't all unfamiliar.

Juvia saw Lucy, standing on the other side of the room, wearing her karategi and an orange sash around her waist. She was talking to a pink-haired guy, who was also wearing a karategi, but with a red sash instead of orange, tied around his own waist. To Juvia's discovery and discomfort, everyone in the room was wearing their uniform except her, and she suddenly felt very out of place.

"Hey." Came a voice behind her. Juvia turned around, immediately (and to her surprise) knowing who she'd see. Gray. Juvia had thought Gray was gorgeous yesterday, but in his karategi, he was breath taking.

"Hey." Her voice comes out in a squeak, cheeks feeling warm. Gray was standing in the doorway, having just arrived to class, and she noticed that he, too, had a red sash tied around his waist. He comes fully into the room, standing a few feet away from her.

"No uniform yet?" Gray eyes her figure up and down.

"N-No. I'm supposed to get it today…. I think." Was she? Juvia wasn't totally sure, not with Gray looking at her and confusing her mind.

Gray opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a redheaded female who had just entered the room.

"Everyone! Start your stretches!" This was obviously their instructor, the famous martial artist, Erza Scarlet. And she was just as scary as the tales told.

Juvia quickly takes off her shoes, placing them where everyone else had set theirs along the wall nearest the door, and scrambles to find an empty spot on the matted floor to stretch on. Finding a free spot towards the back of the room, Juvia proceeds to mimic the movements of the students around her.

After fifteen minutes of stretching exercises, Erza explains they will be practicing some self-defense moves for an hour, and instructs everyone to grab a partner to practice with. Juvia stands off awkwardly to the side, watching as everyone begins pairing off.

"Need a partner?" It was Gray again. He had come over to her, and was smirking.

Juvia gulps, "Su-sure. B-But Juvia doesn't know any of the moves."

"Well luck for you, I do. I'll teach you." And he did. Each self-defense move that Erza would show an then instruct them to practice, Gray would patiently demonstrate again, two to three times, for Juvia, and then have her try it out on him.

"You're pretty good for a newbie." Gray chuckles as Juvia collapses on the floor after almost an hour of practice, breathing hard.

"Alright class. One more and we'll be finished." Erza announces, before instructing which move she wants them to practice.

Gray nods at Erza's instructions, turning his attention back to Juvia. "Alright, this one you'll have to learn by actually doing it first. I'll take you through the steps as we go." He tells Juvia to lie down on her back and bend her legs. Juvia does as instructed, and watches Gray as he kneels in front of her.

"Alright. This self-defense move is for situations in which you are trapped underneath someone." Gray pulls her bent knees against his lower body, and leans over her, hands placed on either side of her face.

Juvia's body tenses up, and Gray continues to talk, explaining to her how to execute her move to get out from under him, but she doesn't hear a word. Flashing images appears before her eyes, her body breaks out into a cold sweat, heartbeat pounding in her ears, and breathing becoming hitched and irregular.

"No." She hears herself say, as if from a distance.

"Juvia?" Gray asks, a look of concern crossing his face. It was as if she was underwater, drowning. Her ears rang and she couldn't breathe.  
>"NO! GET OFF! GET OFF!" Juvia screams, thrashing her arms against Gray, trying to push away from him.<p>

Gray immediately gets off, and comes to her side, not touching her when he says, "Juvia. Juvia it's okay. See? I'm off."

Juvia stops struggling and her eyes focus, finding Gray's. She blinks back tears.

"It's okay. You're okay." Gray repeats over and over to her in soft murmurs, still not touching her.

The ringing in her ears fades, and she sucks in a breath, her mind having come back to reality and realizing what just happened. How she had just reacted. Juvia sits up abruptly, finding that everyone in the room had stopped what they were doing and were staring at her. Mortified, she hastily gets to her feet and crosses the room to the classroom door, head down. No one said a word, and as soon as she was out of the room (forgetting her shoes), she breaks into a run.

Juvia runs as fast as her legs would take her. She ran out of the academy building, across the campus, to the dormitory building, and all the way up the six flights up stairs that lead to the third level, and to her dorm room.

With shaky hands, Juvia unlocks the door to her dorm room and flings the door open, slamming it closed behind her and sending the bolt home. She slides down against the door until she hits the ground, and pulls her knees tight against her chest, hugging them.

Juvia couldn't believe she had reacted that way, on her first day no less, and in front of everyone. Now everyone probably thought she was crazy. She chokes back a sob, and buries her head against her knees.

Hours after Juvia had calmed down and forced herself to eat something, a knock sounds on the door.

Hesitating a hand on the knob, Juvia sighs and tells herself that she has to face people eventually, and unlatches the door and opens it. And there stood Lucy, smiling gently at her, and holding a large bundle of white clothing in her arms.

"Hey, I have you karategi for you. Mind if I come in?"

Juvia shakes her head and opens the door wider for Lucy to step inside. Leading Lucy into the kitchen, she asks, "Make your self at home. Would you like some tea? Juvia just boiled some water."

"Sure, tea would be great." Lucy takes a seat on one of the stools at the counter while Juvia takes out two mugs from a cupboard, places tea bags inside each, and fills the mugs with steaming water from the kettle.

"Here you go." Juvia places one of the mugs of tea in front Lucy, and takes a seat on the other available stool.

Lucy blows on her tea, "I hope it fits you, the karategi." She had set it on the counter in front of them, and smiles warmly at Juvia.

Juvia nods, averting her eyes from Lucy's and watching the steam rise from her tea mug.

Sighing, Lucy turns on her stool to fully face Juvia. "It's okay, you know… What happened today wasn't the first time that someone reacted that way in class."

Juvia looks up, staring at Lucy with wide eyes. "Really?"

Lucy nods her head, taking a sip of her tea before continuing. "Oh, yes. And in fact, that someone else was me, and most likely for the same reasons as you."

Juvia gapes at this.

At her expression, Lucy laughs. "So don't be too embarrassed, okay? I know how mortifying it is, but it will blow over for you like it did for me. Give it a week." Lucy winks at.

She couldn't help it, Juvia starts to cry. "Juvia's sorry! It's just that Juvia's on less than two hours of sleep and all emotional." Lucy hands her a tissue from the tissue box provided on the kitchen counter, and Juvia takes it, wiping her eyes and blowing her nose.

"Thank you, Lucy. Juvia feels much better." And Juvia did, and her lips form into a smile.

Lucy smiles in return, "Of course! And if you ever need someone to talk to, Juvia, you can talk to me. Here, I'll give you my number. What's yours?" Juvia tells her, and Lucy punches away at her phone for a minute before turning her attention back to Juvia. "There, I sent you a text message. Now you have my number."

"Thank you, Lucy-san! Thank you!" Tears start to well up in her eyes once again, and Juvia quickly wipes them away with the back of her hand.

After finishing their tea and exchanging comfortable small talk, Lucy bids Juvia a good night and says that she'll see her tomorrow in classes.

Juvia, feeling much better after Lucy's visit, showers away the sweat and tears, prepares for bed, and passes out as soon as her head touches the pillow.


End file.
